My dad sent me an incredible thirty minute interview of Ayn Rand by Mike Wallace in 1959 which I just watched on my iPhone during a treadmill run. I’m a fan of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead and, while I’m intrigued by a lot of Ayn Rand’s philosophy and writing, I don’t consider myself an Objectivist.

One of the quotes I most love is John Galt’s statement “I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine.” A while ago my mom made a painting out of this quote (it currently hangs in my partner Jason Mendelson’s house.)

Regardless of my philosophical perspective, I thought this interview was fascinating. While it’s 50 years old, the format and content is timeless. I think Ayn Rand was brilliant in her articulation of her philosophy and her perspective and did an excellent job of engaging with Wallace without running him over.

As we exit 2009, I encourage you to watch this, if only to have it stimulate your thinking. I expect some of you will love this and some will hate it, but I challenge anyone to say that “it didn’t cause me to think or react.”